We’re continuing to work with the Australian Unity team ahead of taking over management of the Diversified Property Fund in July 2024. As part of our commitment to uncompromising governance, ASA is excited to announce the two new independent directors that will join the Responsible Entity Board – Howard Brenchley and Annabel McFarlane. For more insights into their expertise and accomplishments, please find their bios below.
Howard has over 35 years’ involvement in the Australian property industry, as an analyst, investor and fund manager. Howard cofounded Property Investment Research Pty Ltd (PIR) in 1989, which during the 1990s was considered a leading researcher of both listed and unlisted property funds. In 1998 Howard was instrumental in establishing the funds management business of APN Property Group Limited. During this period, he was responsible for the establishment and operations of a number of funds investing both directly and indirectly in real estate. APN Property Group was sold to Dexus in August 2021.
Since 1998, Howard has been a director (or the director of the responsible entity) of numerous listed and unlisted real estate investment vehicles, and remains a Director of National Storage REIT (NSR:ASX).
Annabel has over 30 years of experience in the real estate industry, spanning Australia, the US and the UK. As the Head of Strategic Research for JLL Australia, Annabel is at the forefront of trends taking place across the market, and regularly produces thought leadership papers, market analysis and strategic advice to a variety of stakeholders. Annabel also has a passion for leveraging data to drive innovation, including through the development of JLL's 3D real estate models, and is a leader of JLL's sustainability, and Future Cities research.
Roles prior to joining JLL covered valuations and advisory at Cushman & Wakefield and Ratcliffe Cali Duffy Hughes in both the UK (London) and the US (North America including Alaska), and lecturing in Property Valuation at RMIT in Melbourne. Annabel’s experience extends to real estate asset classes including office, retail, industrial, hotels and residential.